If history is deprived of the Truth, we are left with nothing but an idle, unprofitable tale.

A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible.

We can profit only by our own misfortunes and those of others. The former, though they may be the more beneficial, are also the more painful; let us turn, then, to the latter.

The government will take the fairest of names, but the worst of realities--mob rule.

From this I conclude that the best education for the situations of actual life consists of the experience we acquire from the study of serious history. For it is history alone which without causing us harm enables us to judge what is the best course in any situation or circumstance.

The particular aspect of history which both attracts and benefits its readers is the examination of causes and the capacity, which is the reward of this study, to decide in each case the best policy to follow. Now in all political situations we must understand that the principle factor which makes for success or failure is the form of a state's constitution: it is from this source, as if from a fountainhead, that all designs and plans of action not only originate but reach their fulfillment.

If history is deprived of the Truth, we are left with nothing but an idle, unprofitable tale.